Book review: ‘Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary’

Neurodiversity is a relatively new term, used to refer to diversity in cognitive functioning. As with other aspects of human experience, it was long assumed that there is such a thing as “normal” within a given culture; everything outside the norm was (in many places still is), met with stigmatisation and intolerance.

Neurodivergent people have been labelled some nasty names over the centuries, and discriminated against on account of their cognitive and behavioural patterns diverging from the neurotypical norms. It is only in recent years that the wider society has begun to try to understand conditions such as autism, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia and others, but the prejudice and stereotypes are still rampant.

Which is why booklets such as Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary are so useful. Written in a clear and simple language, this slim volume is intended for an audience of specialists and non-specialists alike: professionals working with neurodivergent people (such as educators or therapists) will find it useful, as will those whose friends or loved ones happen to be neurodivergent.

Indeed, even the neurodivergent people themselves will benefit from it, as it can provide them with the vocabulary they can use to describe their, otherwise difficult to define, experiences and issues.

As stated in the title, this is not simply a glossary of terms: it is an affirming glossary, which is to say it is written in an inclusive way, from the perspective of the neurodivergent community. As the author says towards the beginning of the booklet, “neurodiversity-affirming language supports good mental health”, and this little book does it well.

At the moment of writing, both the ebook and the paperback versions are available from Amazon.

---

Neurodiversity Affirming Glossary of Key Vocabulary was written by Helen Edgar. First published in April 2023 by Autistic Realms.

---

COVER IMAGE

The infinity symbol paired with the colours of the rainbow (i.e. the “infinity rainbow”) is one of the most popular symbols used by the autistic community. It represents its inclusive character, regardless of individual differences and specific forms of neurodivergence one may exhibit.